


Wherever We Are

by Silas_Writes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Blood, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining Shiro (Voltron), Rating May Change, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-01-04 23:35:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12178680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silas_Writes/pseuds/Silas_Writes
Summary: It's been a year since the zombie outbreak at the Galaxy Garrison......and it's been four months since Lance McClain went missing.





	1. Chapter 1

A solid kick took out the rotting boards that stood in the way of one Takashi Shirogane. The broken pieces clattered to the dust covered tiles underfoot. Shiro’s steel eyes scanned the inside warily. Once confirmed that the inside was void of the living dead, he stepped inside and began searching through the convenience store’s shelves for supplies. Most of what was left were either expired or already taken. A frown touched his lips as he kept up his search. He moved from shelf to shelf. Finally, he came across a sealed box of batteries in a back storage room. Slipping a pocket knife from his back pocket, he opened up the cardboard box.

A cold, metallic click sounding behind him made him pause just as he pulled out the first, clean pack to examine. The voice that spoke was smooth, yet with a rough edge to it, “Drop it, and put your hands on your head.”

Shiro complied, making a show to stand up slowly before turning around. His eyes widened, “Keith?”

“Shiro?” Keith lowered the pistol in his hand.

“Who’s Shiro?” piped up a younger sounding voice from the other side of a nearby shelf. Two people stepped out from behind it to Shiro’s surprise. One lifted a pair of goggles up to the top of their head of wild, tawny hair. They were the one that spoke then, “Oh! You’re one of the old Garrison pilots! I thought you all had died or been zombified.”

Shiro, figuring he was probably safe enough since Keith recognized him, dropped his hands from his head. His voice came out gruffer than he meant to at first, so he cleared it before speaking and holding out a hand to them, “Takashi Shirogane.”

Goggles glanced at Keith momentarily before shaking Shiro’s hand, “Katie Holt. You can call me Pidge, though.”

“Holt, huh? Related to Matt and Sam Holt?” Shiro’s hand dropped hers.

Pidge’s fists balled at her side before she crossed her arms, mumbling, “Yeah. You seen ‘em?”

“No,” Shiro sighed softly, “They were with me when the outbreak first happened, but I ended up losing them getting out of there…”

Pidge turned away and stalked back to looking through the shelves without another word. The other person with her held their hand out to him, “Don’t mind Pidge. She’s been looking for them since the whole zombie thing.”

“I have been, too. Quite the year it’s been, hasn’t it?” Shiro shook their hand, “May I have your name?”

“Oh! Hunk. Hunk Garrett,” he gave a hearty laugh, “Sorry about that. Easy to forget introducing yourself when you’ve been stuck with the same three people.”

“Two,” Keith grit out, eyes on the gun as he clicked the safety back on and tucked it into his jacket.

Hunk gulped and wrung his hands nervously, “Right… Sorry. Two people now.”

“Oh,” Shiro crossed his arms, “I’m… sorry for your loss.”

“Don’t give your condolences yet. He might still be alive,” Keith muttered.

Doubt flitted across Hunk’s face before he clapped Shiro’s shoulder with a smile, “Enough of all that talk for now. How about you join up with us? Any friend of Keith’s is a friend of ours.”

Keith’s mood seemed to lift a smidgen at that, dark eyes lifting to meet grey, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to…”

“I’d like that,” Shiro gave him a small smile, “Gets pretty lonely out there. Besides, might be better to have more than one person carrying these batteries I found. Seems like a lot for one person.”

Pidge zipped back into view, “You found batteries?! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”

Shiro stepped out of the way as the small girl launched herself into the storage closet and dug through the box. He raised his brows at Keith who just gave a small, fond laugh. Hunk kneeled down beside Pidge to look through the box as well, seeming equally delighted. Keith stepped to Shiro’s side, placing a gloved hand on his shoulder, “Glad that you’re back.”

Shiro smiled more openly before sighing softly, “I thought I lost everyone I ever knew…”

Keith’s hand squeezed his shoulder, “Well, you didn’t. What d’you say to looking around some more?”

“Alright.”

The group scavenged what all they could find over the next half hour before deciding it best to leave and move on. Shiro paused on the way out, “This place would actually make a nice camp for the night…”

“Yeah… no,” Pidge slipped her goggles back over her eyes, “There’s actually a horde about a mile west of here. It’d be safer to head northeast.”

“How do you know there’s a horde? Run into trouble on the way here?” he asked curiously.

Pidge lifted her arm and slid up the too-long sleeve of her jean jacket, revealing a watch-like gadget strapped to her wrist. She smiled as she explained, “Actually, I’ve modified this watch to pick up horde activity in a five mile radius from my location. It’s wirelessly connected to a patrol drone I found and hacked into. It flies in circles and locates zombie hordes that end up too close for our comfort. And as you can clearly see-”

She tilted her wrist in his direction, showing him the flickering green blob on the display that was roughly on the one mile ring. She continued, “that is a pretty big spot. Which means a lot of moving bodies. Now, there are a few bugs that need to be kinked out, but for the most part, it’s kept us out of trouble entirely.”

“That’s impressive,” Shiro murmured in awe.

“Damn right,” she grinned cheekily.

“Just…” he cleared his throat, “One question. Why northeast? Why not just east?”

Pidge dropped her arm, shoving her sleeve back down to cover the watch, “Well, we actually are heading somewhere.”

“We’re going back to the Garrison,” Keith stated bluntly.

Shiro’s brows inched up towards his hairline, “Why would you-?”

“Because we received a signal,” Pidge cut him off hastily.

“A signal?” Shiro’s brow furrowed, confusion etched into his face.

Hunk decided to speak up this time, “Pidge had each of us strap on a tracker after the initial outbreak. That way, if any of us ended up separated from each other, all we had to do was flip the switch, and the rest of the team could find us.”

Understanding began to dawn on Shiro’s face, “So… The person you mentioned was missing…?”

“His tracker flipped on,” Keith confirmed.

“Not for long though,” Pidge sighed, “It was only on long enough for us to pinpoint the location he was in at the moment the switch was flipped.”

“Still… The Garrison? That’s insanity,” Shiro crossed his arms, obviously apprehensive at just the thought of going back, “That’s where the outbreak started. It’s got to be teeming with undead. For all you know, a zombie could have his tracker and activated it on accident.”

Keith shrugged, “It’s worth a look.”

“I’m sorry. How long has this guy been missing?”

“Almost four months…” Hunk mumbled sheepishly.

“That’s a long time, Keith. Too long,” Shiro sighed.

“Lance isn’t helpless,” Keith scowled, “If there’s a possibility that he’s alive, we’re going to go look. I don’t know what it’s been like for you out here, but in this team,  _we’re family._  We’re sticking together and making things work for the better. We’re going to check if Lance is there. W-whether-”

He balled his hands into fists at his side, turning sharply away. Keith’s voice dipped, “Whether you come with us or not. I want you to, but if you don’t want to come with us, that’s… That’s up to you.”

Shiro watched as Keith’s shoulders sagged and his fists relaxed. Then, Shiro strode over to stand before him, “Keith.”

Black, almost violet in their intensity, eyes slowly raised to meet steel grey orbs.

“I’ll go,” Shiro said softly.

Keith’s lips parted in surprise before twisting into a grin. Pidge walked over and hip bumped Keith over a step, “Welcome to the team.”

Hunk grinned, “Yeah!”

A laugh slipped from Keith. He shook his head, grin growing, “We need to get going then.”

“True,” Pidge chirped, “Hike up those backpacks, people. Losing daylight. Let’s move!”

With a glance at her wrist device, she turned around and set off walking, leaving the others to quickly make sure they had everything before scrambling to catch up.


	2. Chapter 2

Shiro began taking up watch duty whenever the group stopped to sleep. The team was appreciative of it at first, but soon, worry started to sprout. The others offered to take up watch a couple of times, but Shiro kept reassuring them that it was fine. It was the fourth day of their trek to the Garrison that Keith put his foot down. Shiro leaned against the rock wall of the small cave they were camping in for the night, arms crossed and lips in a tight, displeased line.

“You haven’t slept once,” Keith’s gaze was steady on his, “This isn’t healthy.”

“I’m fine,” Shiro grit out through his teeth, yet the bags under his eyes gave away his exhaustion.

“If you don’t sleep, you’ll be useless when we have to run or defend ourselves!”

Shiro’s expression softened, averting his eyes to stare at the dirt. Pidge smacked Keith’s arm, glaring up at him. Keith scowled back at her, “What? It’s the truth.”

“Tact,” Pidge placed her hands on her hips before turning to Shiro, “Look. I don’t know you as well as Keith, but what I do know are facts. And the facts are that, if you keep this up, your body will find another way to make you sleep. It’s too important of a body function to avoid.”

“I know,” Shiro whispered, “I just don’t  _want_  to sleep.”

“Nightmares?”

Surprise flitted over his face at Hunk’s quiet question. Hunk offered him a kind smile, “Thought so… We all have them, you know. If it helps you feel better, we’ll still be here when you wake up. Nightmare or no.”

Shiro blinked before his body sagged a little. He let himself slide down the wall to sit, mumbling that he would try. The other three threw hands to figure out which one of them would take up watch night. Pidge cheered when she won with paper over Keith and Hunk’s rocks. Shiro shot Keith a questioning look at her excitement. Keith made his way over and sat beside him before answering, “She uses the time to mess with her gadgets.”

Hunk opened up and dug through his bag, pulling a rolled up quilt from it. Then, he moved to sit on Shiro’s other side, unfolding the blanket and draping it over all three of their laps. Shiro stiffened up a bit as Keith and Hunk pressed him closer between them. His eyes glanced between the two, “Uh…”

“It gets cold in the middle of the night,” Keith stated, his body already relaxing. He glanced up at Shiro as he rested his head on his shoulder before closing those black-violet eyes.

“It’s also more comfortable to sleep like this,” Hunk murmured, head already resting itself on Shiro’s other shoulder. His honey brown eyes closed, and he was out like a light.

It took a minute, but Shiro managed to relax, finding it was, indeed, more comfortable. The heat from the bodies sandwiching him warmed his skin and lulled his mind into a sense of ease. His eyelids fluttered as he fought to keep them open. Pidge noticed this as she was quietly pulling out her tools from her own bag. A smile touched her lips before she began to hum a soothing melody. The sound wavered in her throat but did as it was intended. Sleep finally enveloped Shiro in its sweet embrace.

* * *

A whooping cheer startled him from sleep the next morning. He shot forward, getting tripped up in the quilt on the way, and fell flat onto his face. Keith and Hunk grumbled as they stirred awake as well. With a groan, he pushed himself off the dirt and wiped a hand over his face. Looking around, he found the source of the noise. Pidge was dancing a bit in place, an electronic tablet of some sort in her hands. Her face lit up with a bright smile when she noticed they were awake. She turned the screen towards them, hopping a bit in her excitement,  _“Guys,_  look! Look!”

Shiro untangled himself from Hunk’s quilt and got up off the ground to make his way over and squint at the screen. He blinked as his eyes focused in on the image, “Is that…?”

“The Garrison’s security cameras still work!” Pidge handed him the tablet before throwing up her hands with a squeal, “I finally accessed them!”

“How close are we?” Shiro bit his lip as he watched the staticky feed. On the screen, the old cafeteria had no fewer than a dozen zombies shuffling around upturned tables and chairs. Their stumbling gaits were slow on the feed, but Shiro knew better. These things could run the second the smell of blood was in the air.

“Not far. It’s just on the other side of this cave really, but we don’t have a direct path. We’ll have to go around,” Pidge was still smiling, now tugging her long hair up into a ponytail.

Keith slumped against Shiro, making him jump in surprise. He stared at the screen with a carefully blank face, “How many of the cameras are there?”

Pidge seemed to deflate a bit, “Only five are operational. The others seem to either be offline or are covered up.”

“Covered up?” Keith’s brow furrowed as he straightened to stand on his own.

Pidge shrugged, “They say online, but there’s something on the lens.”

Shiro frowned as he tapped a button on the screen, the image changing as it switched cameras. He kept clicking through until he found another working one. This one was trained at the front entrance. The doors and gates were wide open with more of the undead milling about. Keith glanced at the tablet again before taking it from Shiro and flipping through the different cameras himself. He soon paused and went back a couple of times, squinting at the view of one of the darker hallways, “What’s that?”

Pidge and Shiro pressed in close to see. At first, it didn’t seem like anything was there. They waited with bated breath. Pidge’s nose crinkled as she grew impatient, “What did you see?”

Keith pointed to the very end of the hall where a couple of old trash bins stood. A gasp slipped from her as something crept slowly around from the other side. Pidge’s eyes widened, “Is that a zombie?”

“It seems too sure of where it’s going to be one,” Keith murmured.

“What if they mutated?” Hunk peered over Keith’s shoulder to see for himself. He blinked before snatching the tablet from his hands. His eyes widened as he whispered, “What if that’s Lance?”

They all pressed together once more to look at the screen. The figure was closer now but under a hooded cloak. Keith frowned, “Lance didn’t have a cape…”

Hunk shrugged, “He could’ve picked one up. _It’s been four months.”_

“I swear, if we find him wearing a cape, I’ll shave half my head,” Pidge rolled her eyes.

“Why half?” a smile twitched at Shiro’s lips.

“Side shaves are cool,” she shrugged nonchalantly. A light in Pidge’s old army pack started flashing in quick bursts, catching her attention out the corner of her eye. She hurried to the bag and dug out another gadget that seemed to be made from an old walkie talkie. She flipped a switch on it, the lights cutting off before fumbling to look at the radar watch on her wrist, “We need to get going.”

Keith and Pidge immediately sprung into action, packing up their stuff. Shiro followed suit despite being confused. Hunk took his time dusting off the quilt and rolling it up. After his backpack was secure and on his shoulders, Shiro finally asked, “What was that?”

“Was what?” Pidge inquired, shouldering her own bag.

“The thing with the lights.”

“Oh,” Pidge slipped her goggles onto her head, “An alarm clock. Doesn’t make sound, so it can’t attract unwanted brain eaters.”

Shiro’s face scrunched in confusion, “Why am I just now seeing it?”

“Duh,” Pidge smirked, “I just built it last night.”

Shiro gaped as she practically skipped out of the cave. Hunk followed after her, slapping a granola bar into his hand on the way. Shiro blinked and closed his mouth after Keith nudged him as he passed. Keith sent him a soft smile, “C’mon. Let’s go find Lance.”


	3. Chapter 3

Keith pulled a wrapped dagger from the inside of his jacket as soon as the Garrison came into their line of sight. Pidge shrugged off and dug around in her bag as they all slowed to a stop, “We need a game plan. This is a big place, and we have four people now. It wouldn’t be dangerous to split into groups of two and break in on opposite sides.”

She pulled out another pistol and held it out to Shiro, “Here. You’ll go with Hunk. You two are Team Blubber Butt.”

Hunk’s jaw dropped,  _“Hey!”_

“Keith and I will be Team Kickass,” Pidge slipped her goggles to the top of her head.

Shiro rolled his eyes before unloading the mag of the gun to check it out. Hunk huffed, “Why Team Blubber Butt? Why not, like, Team Cool Guys or something?”

“‘Cause it’s Shiro’s first mission with us,” Pidge threw him a smirk.

“It’s not  _my_  first mission!” Hunk groaned, “C’mon, Pidge!”

“Fine. Fine,” Pidge slipped the army bag back over her shoulders, the tablet now in her hands, “You’ll be Team Knock Knock.”

“Knock knock?” Shiro scrunched his face up.

“Who’s there?” Pidge asked before laughing. Shiro blinked before a few chuckles worked their way out of him.

Hunk just huffed, “Yeah. Yeah. Real funny. Why Team Knock Knock?”

Pidge’s grin grew, “Because you two are going through the front door.”

_“What?!”_  Hunk shouted, “You’re joking!  _Please, tell me you’re joking!_  She’s joking. Right, Keith?”

“C’mon, Keith. We’ve got a wall to climb over. Good luck, boys!”

Keith simply shrugged and followed Pidge as she continued towards the Garrison, leaving Hunk and Shiro to figure out what they were going to do on their own.

“We’re screwed,” Hunk groaned.

Shiro patted the other’s shoulder, “We’re not screwed.”

“You saw the entrance on the tablet earlier! There’s zombies all over it!”

“There are,” Shiro smiled, “which is why it’s going to be easy.”

At Hunk’s confused look, Shiro further explained, “I’ve been travelling by myself for a year. You tend to pick up a few things.”

“Okay… How are we going to do it then?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Well, I did,” Hunk rubbed the back of his neck, “but now that you’ve asked me that, I’m starting to question it.”

Shiro laughed, snapping the magazine back into the gun he was given. He cocked it and shot it into the air, the sound echoing loudly around them. Hunk yelped, _“What do you think you’re doing?!”_

“We need a straggler,” Shiro flipped the safety on and tucked the gun away into his backpack.

_“A straggler?! You’re going to draw a horde right to us!”_

“You have a bat, right? Thought I saw one with your stuff a couple nights ago.”

_“Shiro!”_

Shiro glanced over to him, “Do you have a bat or not, big guy? We’re gonna need it.”

Hunk ran his hands through his hair in frustration, taking in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. He then shrugged off the hiking pack he lugged around, flipping it around to his front to pull out a small, wooden bat. Shiro slipped his pocket knife out of his pocket. Then, he pulled up the sleeve on his right arm. Honey brown eyes nearly popped out of Hunk’s head,  _ **“What are you doing?!”**_

Instead of answering, Shiro drew the knife over the flesh of his arm, blood beading along the thin cut. He put his knife up before shaking his arm a bit with a wince, “That should do it.”

“That should do  _what?! Have you lost your mind?!”_  Hunk looked two seconds away from having an aneurysm.

“Surprisingly, no,” Shiro shoved his sleeve down as distant footsteps sounded behind his comrade. He took the bat from Hunk and walked past him, heading towards the sound. Hunk could only stare, frozen in fear, as the zombie came into view. It sprinted right for Shiro with an unearthly shriek. Shiro readied the bat, swinging it to rest on his shoulder as he widened his stance. He waited until the undead being lunged the final stretch at him before swinging the bat hard.

A sickening crack resounded in their ears. The zombie crumbled to the ground. Shiro gave the corpse a few more whacks as a precaution before offering the bat back to Hunk. Hunk took it, a gag erupting out of him. He dropped it with another gag, “Dude, I can’t  _believe_  you did that.”

“Got a medical kit? I need to cover this cut before any more pass by and get a whiff,” Shiro pulled his sleeve back up to examine the cut. Hunk immediately dropped his bag and turned to dig out his first aid kit. Soon, antibiotic ointment and bandages were being pressed into Shiro’s hands. Shiro quickly patched himself up before handing the medical supplies back to him.

Hunk asked as Shiro fixed his shirt sleeve back into place, “So, why was that necessary?”

“You’re…” Shiro grimaced sympathetically, “not going to like this, but we have to cover ourselves in its scent.”

“Its scent?”

“Yeah,” Shiro averted his gaze, “The zombies at the entrance won’t pay us any mind walking in if we smell like them…”

Hunk’s face paled, “Oh, man…”

* * *

The entrance loomed over them as they passed through, deliberately walking slow. Hunk breathed through his mouth, afraid that, if he did so through his nose, he’d puke. Shiro had covered his cheeks, forehead, and arms with the decomposing insides of the zombie he had beaten to death. Shiro led the way through the first entrance leading into the large courtyard. As he had said, the zombies didn’t even turn their way as they shuffled past. Hunk didn’t relax until they stepped inside the building.

He gagged before questioning in a hushed, strained whisper, “Do we have to keep this on the entire time we’re here?”

“It would be ideal,” Shiro responded before asking, “Where do we go from here?”

“Actually, we need to contact Pidge before we do anything,” Hunk dropped his bag and dug out a walkie talkie from one of the many outer pockets. He clicked it on and turned the volume low before pressing the button on the side, “Team Kickass, Team Knock Knock has reached point B. I repeat. Team Knock Knock has reached point B. What’s the next move? Over.”

After a moment, Pidge’s voice crackled through the speaker, “Awesome. Keith and I are heading up to the upper floors and rooftops. You guys take the lower floors and the cafeteria. Be safe. Over and out.”

“Roger. Over and out,” Hunk slipped his bag back onto his shoulders, keeping the communication device in his hand, “You heard her. I vote we look through the instructor lounges and cadet dorms first, then head to the lunchroom.”

Shiro nodded before moving forward through the dark halls. Some of the lights seemed to still work but flickered ominously. Hunk stuck close to Shiro’s side, eyes sweeping their gaze around nervously as they snuck around. They stuck together for a while, going through the lounges with care. Soon, however, they became more comfortable and separated to check the dorms separately in order to quicken their search.

The thirty-fifth room Shiro stepped into was the one that truly caught his attention. Upon keying in the instuctors’ pin to override access to the room, - which he hadn’t had to do for many of the rooms since they were open due to the mad dash people made to escape during the outbreak - it beeped a negative tone and refused to open. He pressed in the keycode again, getting the same response.

“What the hell?” Shiro mumbled before turning to the room Hunk was currently looking through across the hall, “Hunk. This room’s not opening up?”

“One sec,” Hunk shut the drawers he had been digging in before making his way to the door Shiro stood in front of. He looked at the plaque next to the door, and his breath caught, “Oh…”

“Oh?” Shiro’s eyes wandered to the plaque before widening. There on the plaque were listed two names: Cadets Hunk Garrett and Lance McClain. He whispered,  _“Oh…”_

Hunk tapped in a different pin, the doors opening instantly. He swallowed thickly before stepping inside and looking around. The room was exactly how they had left it. Beds were messed. Their photos of friends and families taped to the walls by their bed as well as posters and postcards from home. Shiro followed him in, looking around curiously, as Hunk began grabbing some of the things he left behind before. He started packing them into his bag.

One photo on the wall opposite of what had been Hunk’s side of the room caught Shiro’s attention. He walked over to it, staring at the two boys pictured. One of them was Hunk, and the other…must be Lance. Ocean blue eyes were crinkled from the wide smile the boy was sporting. A party hat was strapped onto Lance’s head. Must’ve been someone’s birthday. His arm was slung around a laughing Hunk who seemed to have cake icing smeared over the side of his face. Hunk’s birthday, maybe? Hunk’s hand came into view and ghosted over the picture, “My best friend. That’s who we’re looking for…”

Shiro shifted his gaze to him, choosing to stay quiet. Hunk continued anyway, “We were actually here when he went missing. Pidge and Keith thought it would be a good idea to look for supplies here since no one in their right minds would set foot in this place since the outbreak, and there might’ve been some good stuff that was left behind. Lance agreed. We planned every step, and we didn’t even…”

He sighed heavily, the weight of the world seeming to settle over his form, “It was easier to get in before. Pidge had poppers. Ya know, those fireworks that are little pellets?”

“Yeah,” Shiro sat down on the edge of Lance’s old bed.

“She used them to distract the zombies to get us all through the front. We split off into two teams. Lance and I were Team Ready to Mingle. Pidge had wanted to call us Team Bubble Blowing Babies, but Lance wasn’t having it,” Hunk laughed softly, “Then, Lance and I ran into a horde in one of the lounges. We ran, but Lance ended up tripping and scraping his hands. You know how zombies are with blood. He made us separate, so he could lead the zombies away. We all made it out. Except for him…”

Hunk sat down beside Shiro, “Keith wouldn’t leave here without running through the place to look for him himself, but it was like Lance never existed. There was no trace of if he was okay or if he escaped. We waited for his tracker to be flipped, but it didn’t light up…”

“Until last week,” Shiro mumbled.

Hunk nodded, “Until last week. A couple days before we ran into you.”

Shiro didn’t know what to even begin to say in order to comfort him. Silence stretched between them. The walkie talkie, which had been moved to Hunk’s pocket, crackled to life, startling them at the sudden noise. Keith’s voice filtered through, “Hunk, I think you should come see this… Bring Shiro.”

Hunk stood and dug out the walkie talkie with trembling hands, tears could be seen just on the edge of his waterline. He took a deep breath before pressing the button to speak, “See what?”

“Lance w _as here.”_


	4. Chapter 4

Shiro had to work to keep up with Hunk as they hurried to the upper floors of the Garrison to meet up with Team Kickass. Every now and then, he had to lunge forward to stop the other from smacking straight into the occasional lumbering zombie in his haste. Hunk apologized to and thanked him every time. Amazingly, they managed to get to the room without getting bitten. Inside, Pidge was perched on the arm of a worn, dusty couch, studying a sheet of paper that was ripped at the top with furrowed brows. Keith raised a hand in greeting. Hunk stepped closer, “Lance was here?”

Keith nodded, “Left a note.”

“How do you know he was the one who left the note?” Shiro shut the door behind himself.

Keith picked up an arrow off the cracked coffee table in front of the couch and held it out to Hunk, “This is one of his, isn’t it?”

Hunk took it with careful fingers, studying the quiver. He breathed out, “Yeah… Crafted by me and Pidge. Hard to break. Reusable. Reliable. Plus-”

He showed the arrow tip to Shiro, “his initials.”

The letters “LM” were etched into the flat sides of the arrowhead and filled in with a cerulean pigment. Shiro took the arrow to examine it further, asking quietly, “He uses a bow?”

“Yeah. He’s pretty good at using it, too,” Keith provided.

“Interesting…”

Hunk made his way over to Pidge, “What does the note say?”

Pidge threw it on the coffee table, looking frustrated, “I have no fucking clue.”

Hunk picked up the sheet of paper to glance over it. His eyes seemed to light up immediately, “I might…”

“How?” pouted Pidge, kicking her feet idly, “It’s a bunch of random numbers!”

“Exactly,” Hunk dropped his pack to the ground and started rummaging through it, “Where did I put it…?”

The three of them watched curiously as Hunk searched for a minute until he popped back up with a book and pencil  in hand.

“ _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_? Really?” Pidge’s face twisted in confusion.

“Yep,” he dropped himself down on the couch and started flipping through it, eyes darting across the note every now and then. He began scribbling words under certain sections of numbers as he flipped through the pages. His brows furrowed in concentration as he worked. It took him several minutes, but when he was done, he passed the note to a dumbfounded Pidge. She huffed as her eyes read over it, understanding dawning in her eyes, “Of  _course,_  you two had a book cipher.”

“It was his idea,” Hunk shrugged, tucking the pencil inside the book before shutting it.

“What’s a book cipher?” Shiro asked curiously.

“A cipher is a secret code. The one they’re using requires a book. The numbers are page, line and word numbers. When you look in the book using those numbers, you get a word,” Pidge mumbled before passing him the note.

Shiro’s eyes scanned over it. It read:

[7,18,2] [167,374,4] [9,47,3] [7,5,2] [49,224,2] [11,60,8]

_I            NEED          YOU        TO         TRUST       ME_

[15,129,6] [15,124,2] [13,103,3] [61,112,8]

_FOLLOW          MY          EVERY        WORD_

[57,43,1] [35,11,7] [99,242,2] [99,242,4] [99,249,5]

_WE’LL        SEE            EACH         OTHER       SOON_

[11,59,8] [19,177,5] [19,173,6] [39,64,5]

  _LOOK       UNDER       THE           BED_

“This seems awfully inconvenient…” he muttered, passing the paper to Keith.

“Yeah,” Keith murmured, his look fond as he read the note, “but that sounds like him. I just hope he has a good reason for staying away for this long, or I’ll have to punch him.”

Pidge strolled over to the bed and dropped to her knees, reaching under it. She pulled out another sheet and stood, bringing it to Hunk, “Here ya go. Your job now is to decipher any and all Lance codes.”

Hunk sighed but cracked open the book again, getting to work.

“Quick, unrelated question,” Pidge stepped away with a scrunched up nose, “Why the hell do you two reek?”

“I was kind of wondering the same,” Keith added. Shiro and Hunk locked eyes before snorting out a laugh and shaking their heads.

“What?” the two asked, only to receive no answer from Team Knock Knock.

* * *

The group trekked through the desert, the sun beating down on them harshly from above. It had been three days. Three days of them following Lance’s vague instructions. He had left quite the trail. Notes had been hidden under rocks, stuck to cacti, and even inside some of the desert caves on top of a stack of rations. Pidge and Keith were irritable from the heat, and everyone was exhausted overall. Shiro finally took control and had them stop to break despite the others wanting to keep going. He sighed wearily, Keith having been arguing against stopping, “Didn’t you say that  _I’d_  be useless if I was exhausted. The same applies to you, Keith.”

Keith huffed, reluctantly dropping to sit in the sand next to Hunk,  _“Fine.”_

Hunk pulled out water bottles from his pack and passed one out to each of them, “We’re running low… We should look for a place to scavenge soon.”

Pidge simply nodded. As Hunk drank his water, he continued deciphering a particularly long note from Lance, his pencil scritching against the paper. His eyes widened as he finished a line, “Uh, nevermind about scavenging. Lance says there’s an old well where he’s at. We’re apparently getting close. Only a couple more miles maybe? It says a couple of miles, but then again, we are limited on words we can use… Either way, seems to be our last stretch of walking.”

“The word ‘mile’ is in  _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_?” Pidge raised a brow in his direction, disbelieving.

“In this copy, page 29. Line 98,” Hunk began to quote, ““…wood, a  _mile_  without the town, by moonlight. Ther-””

“Oh, shut up! I cannot believe,” Pidge groaned, flopping back. Hunk smiled in amusement, returning to decoding quietly. After they finished their drinks, the bottles were collected and placed back into Hunk’s bag to be reused later before they were back to heading along the route Lance mapped out for them. After an hour of walking, Hunk stopped everyone, “Uh… Just decoded a warning, guys.”

“What?” they all turned towards him questioningly.

“It says, “Warning. Not good band of people along the way?” Hunk frowned.

The group looked uneasily between themselves. Pidge pulled her sleeve up and checked her watch, “Maybe, the drone will be able to pick them up as we walk?”

“Won’t help if those guys are spread out. We’ve had to fight off stragglers before,” Keith crossed his arms.

“We don’t know exactly when Lance put the note here, so maybe, they’ve moved somewhere else by now. We’ll just have to proceed with caution and hope for the best,” Shiro adjusted his backpack on his shoulders, “Let’s try to get there before nightfall…”

They continued walking, keeping their eyes peeled for potential danger. They didn’t encounter any. By nightfall, they could see the faint outline of some kind of small house in the distance.

“Hunk? Is that it?” Keith asked quietly.

“According to this. Yeah,” Hunk breathed. Grins began lighting up their faces.

_“Last one there is a rotten egg!”_  Pidge crowed, taking off towards the place. The other three looked at each other, startled, before breaking into a sprint after her. Laughter slipped from Pidge as Keith caught up to her, pacing himself to match her speed. Keith couldn’t stop the smile stretching across his lips, a breathless laugh catching in his throat.  He barely managed to notice a figure throwing themself towards them. Keith’s eyes widened. He tripped Pidge and launched himself at the mysterious figure, knocking into them in midair. They thudded to the ground hard, Keith easily pinning them down.

“Keith!  _What the heck?!”_  Pidge whined, sitting up. Her eyes grew wide at seeing what was going on. Hunk and Shiro caught up and helped her to her feet. Hunk checked her over for injuries while Shiro headed to  where Keith had the cloaked figured pinned. Keith rolled off the person just as Shiro approached them. Shiro reached down and grabbed them by their front with both hands, lifting the stranger straight up off the ground. He scowled up at them. Their face was covered with cloth and a hood. All that could be seen was their surprised, wide eyes, as blue as the deepest oceans.

The figure’s voice pitched high, “Woah  _woah **woah!”**_

Shiro glared, “You were on the cameras at the Garrison. Who are you?”

_“Geez! Calm down,”_  the person lifted their hands slowly and pulled down the hood of their cloak, revealing hair just a few shades darker than the brown caramel of their skin. Next, they pulled down the cloth covering the lower half of their face. Shiro’s grip loosened in surprise. The beautiful person thudded to their feet with a grunt. The group stared in shock. Keith was the first to speak up, his voice cracking, “La _nce?”_

Lance offered him a nervous grin, rubbing the back of his neck, “Hey, man.”

They were all silent in shock before Pidge shouted,  _“Where did you get that cape?!”_

Hunk brushed Shiro to the side and picked Lance up in a bear hug, “Lance!”

A laugh breezed past Lance’s lips as he hugged his best friend back, “Hey, Hunk! Buddy! Pal! God, I  _missed_  you!”

Feeling out of place, Shiro stepped away as Keith and Pidge moved forward to get hugs in as well, watching them fuss over each other. His storm-filled eyes drifted to Lance. He was older than he had been in the picture back on his dorm wall. More sharp, handsome angles than the round baby fattened curves that had been depicted. Lance’s skin seemed to glow almost golden in the fading light the sky provided. A ray of dying sunlight caught those eyes, brightening their blue hues, as Lance turned them his way. His crooked smile grew, having caught him staring. A blush creeped up the back of Shiro’s neck. Shiro swallowed dryly, unable to avert his gaze. Lance chuckled, “Let’s go catch up inside, guys.”

He started towards the shack. The others trailed after him, excitedly asking questions. Shiro was the last to follow, keeping his pace purposely slower. He was so screwed.


	5. Chapter 5

The inside of the shack was modest, only being furnished with a dresser, a pull-out couch, and a kitchenette. A lone backpack was set on top of the worn dresser. There seemed to be no electricity as a battery-powered lamp was the only thing lighting the place, sitting just under the unfolded mattress  to keep the light from shining too brightly through the windows. Pidge plopped down onto the mattress with Hunk as Lance sat down on the floor beside the couch. Keith made his way to the kitchenette, immediately checking the tap and looking through the cupboards.

Shiro shut the door and leaned against it, crossing his arms as his eyes swept over the place. His gaze soon trailed to Lance, seeing that he had been staring at him. Shiro averted his gaze to watch Keith. Silence blanketed the room as the group looked around and fidgeted awkwardly. It seemed to stretch on for forever. Heat began to creep its way up Shiro’s spine just from knowing that Lance was still studying him, proven with small glances he dared to sneak towards the other. A throat clearing itself caused them all to flinch, their gazes snapping towards the sound. Hunk smiled apologetically before turning to Lance to ask, “So, uh, what have you been up to?”

Lance rose a brow at him before cracking a smile and laughing. Pidge rolled her eyes, “The first question you ask him is what he’s been up to?”

Hunk shrugged. Keith spoke up, “I have a better question. Where have you  _been?”_

A soft sigh slid out of Lance as his laughter quieted before he answered, “I found another group of survivors and hung with them for awhile.”

Keith turned a glare to him. Lance’s shoulders tensed, “What?”

“You… ‘hung with them’ for awhile?”

“Yeah.”

“And you didn’t even think to use your tracker while you were ‘hanging?’” Pidge joined in, “So we’ve just been worried sick about you, and you’ve been okay and decided to not contact us until now?”

Lance’s shoulders dropped as his brows knitted together as he choked out, “Used my tracker? What’re you- What?! No! No no no! You don’t understand!”

_“Then, explain,”_  Keith leaned back against a counter and crossed his arms.

“My tracker broke months ago,” Lance bit into his lower lip as he hunched his shoulders a bit.

“What? The only reason we returned to the Garrison was because your tracker turned on.”

“Last time I saw my tracker, it was in pieces.”

Surprise colored Pidge’s expression, “Wait… When did you leave those notes?”

“About one and a half to two months ago…?” blue eyes drifted from face to face as he watched their expressions shift with confusion, “I’ve been squatting around here, waiting to see if you guys would even show up. Honestly, I was kinda starting to think you weren’t…”

“Okay, dude, I think you need to rewind to the beginning here,” Hunk ran a hand through his hair and let out a slow breath.

Lance nodded, “I can do that. After you and I separated…”

* * *

_His heart felt like it was going to break through his ribs as Hunk and he ran through the Garrison halls. Their steps echoed loudly off the surrounding walls. The horde of zombies was in hot pursuit. Lance’s bow thumped against his back where it hung over his shoulder by its string. He chanced a look behind himself to determine how far behind the threat was when his foot slipped from under him. His hands flew up to catch himself before he face planted only for his palms to hit broken glass that littered the floor. He hissed sharply but didn’t waste any time scrambling to his feet to keep running._

_A garbled roar sounded behind the boys, causing them to yelp. The undead behind them sped up. Soon, rotted hands were swiping and just barely grazing the backs of their shirts. Lance took one peek at his hands, dripping with blood, and, then, at Hunk before making a quick decision. He yelled, “Hunk, buddy! We gotta split up! You head up to the entrance!”_

_“What about you?!” Hunk stumbled but managed to keep his footing to keep sprinting._

_“I’ll meet ya there!” Lance wouldn’t meet him there. He was pretty sure he was going to die. Hunk, however, believed him. He nodded and changed course as soon as a new hall came into view. Lance kept going straight, making his way to the stairwell to go down to the lower floors. The horde chose to follow him. Just as he knew they would. The smell of his blood was too enticing for them to care about going after Hunk._

_He took the steps two at a time all the way down - sometimes vaulting over the railings to drop a floor to avoid being grabbed - to the lowest floor, the Garrison’s storage unit. If he was going to die, Lance was going to be sure that these zombies were trapped with his chewed up corpse. He dashed around crates despite his aching lungs and burning calves. He skidded to a stop as he came to a dead end. A dry, desperate sob wracked its way from his throat. It started to really hit him. He was going to die here. Alone.  He could hear the zombies closing in. Their steps slower now as they realized their prey had stilled. Lance slumped to his knees, bowing his head as tears began to flood down his cheeks._

_Then, a miracle appeared when he looked towards the ceiling with a silent prayer. A vent with its grate slightly ajar. It seemed to be just big enough to fit him. He climbed for it, wrenching it open and crawling up and inside. He closed the grate after him, his blood smearing on the cold metal, and quickened his pace as he made his way along the vent. Metallic thumps sounded behind him as the undead corpses clawed at the closed vent. Relief flooded him once it was confirmed they weren’t going to get through. He wiped at his weeping eyes before continuing along the crawlspace, hoping it led outside. He kept his gaze towards the top, expecting to have to climb up a few floors worth of vents, but instead, he ended up missing the hole that sat open in front of him. He crawled forward and fell down the shaft, a scream rising up out of his throat in panic._

* * *

“Why would the vents go down? There’s nothing below storage,” Shiro’s voice interrupted Lance’s tale.

Blue eyes met his stormy greys, “I thought so, too…”

* * *

_A crack echoed in the small space that Lance landed in. He hissed as a sharp pain shot through his wrist. He pulled up his jacket sleeve to look it over and groaned in dismay at seeing the tracker that Pidge had given him was completely smashed. With a heavy sigh, Lance carefully removed and left it behind. He looked up but was unable to see just how far he fell. He took time to attempt to climb back up the way he dropped in but failed with each try. With a frustrated sigh, he went through an opening to his left, hoping he’d find an easier way up. Instead, he found himself dropping out of a vent and into what appeared to be a lab._

_“Woah,” he breathed, his eyes taking in everything. The place was trashed. Papers everywhere and upturned equipment. Shattered glass on tables and dried chemicals staining the floors._

* * *

“Why would the Garrison have a secret lab?” Pidge’s lower lip pouted out as she pondered the possibilites.

“Oh, I’ll tell you why,” Lance raised his hands,  _“Aliens.”_

“Aliens? Lance, you can’t seriously expect us to belie-” Hunk started, but Lance stopped him.

_“I’m serious!_  While I was there, I saw some freaky alien skeleton in a locked up room! It had a chart on the door and a window to see in! It looked like something out of an old horror movie!”

“Why would they have an alien? The Garrison was founded for training future pilots and engineers,” Shiro’s mouth tipped down at the edges in wavering disbelief.

“Or maybe,” Keith mumbled, pensive, “They were just using that as a cover-up…”

“You know… That would make sense. What if they were using alien DNA for, well, whatever, and that’s what started the outbreak in the first place? There wasn’t any evidence that it was the Garrison’s fault that the zombies sprouted up at the time it happened, but there wasn’t another plausible explanation for it all having started at the Garrison either,” Pidge laid back on the couch’s mattress.

“The news said it was a naturally formed pathogen,” Hunk frowned.

“What about a zombie apocalypse is ‘naturally formed?’” she asked dryly.

“Never mind. I see your point…”

“Anyway,” Lance crossed his arms, “I was stuck in there for at least a week. There was a small storage of food and water down there. That plus the supplies I already had in my pack kept me pretty okay for awhile. Turns out, there’s a secret entrance that lets out just outside the Garrison’s outer walls, and let me tell you what. That was a lot of stairs to climb.”

Blue eyes dropped to stare at the floor, voice softening, “By that time, you guys were long gone… I tried to find you all. Really.”

“We thought you were dead,” Hunk whispered.

“Keith  _cried,”_  Pidge sat up to smirk at the broody member of their team.

“Shut the  _fuck_  up,” Keith hissed out through his teeth.

A grin inched its way onto Lance’s face as amused, sapphire eyes connected with black violet, “Aw, Keith! You do care about me!”

“Of course, I do,” Keith grumped, looking away from him, “We’re family.”

Lance gasped and turned to Pidge, “When did he start saying it, too?!”

Pidge raised a hand and tilted it side to side, “After the third time he tore through the Garrison by himself looking for you?”

_“You missed me!”_  Lance stood and launched himself at Keith, hugging him tight.

Keith shoved at him, face red with embarrassment, “I take it all back! We’re not family! We’re not even  _friends! Fuck off!”_

Lance finally let go, laughing happily. Shiro’s crossed arms loosened, lips slightly parted as he stared openly. Pidge noticed him and smiled deviously, slipping off the mattress to step close to him. She put a hand to her mouth and whispered, “You’re drooling.”

Shiro smacked a hand to his mouth to wipe it off with wide eyes before realizing she was joking. He dropped his hands to slip into his hoodie pockets, giving her a sheepish smile as he murmured, “That obvious?”

She shrugged, “No need to worry about it. Lance doesn’t pick up on that kinda stuff easily. You’re clear unless someone else points it out or you decide to tell him you like his ass.”

Shiro’s face colored immediately, “I-I never said I liked his-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Pidge grinned smugly, “You don’t  _have_  to say it.”

If the ground was going to open up and swallow them all whole, Shiro would’ve preferred it to be now. Lance turned towards them, having noticed them whispering, “You two keeping secrets from us?”

She let her eyes stray up to Shiro before back to Lance, saying innocently, “Nope. No secrets here.”


	6. Chapter 6

Despite sending a suspicious squint their way, Lance conceded, “Alright…” **  
**

Keith inched away from the other boy, moving to sit by Hunk. Pidge removed her goggles from her head and dropped them on the couch. Hunk decided to bring everyone back to their original topic, “Lance, you said something about other survivors. Are they staying here, too, or camping nearby?”

“Oh,” Lance’s eyes glazed over as he responded, “No, they…”

He took a deep breath and leaned back against the counter where Keith had been previously, seeming to use it as support. He blinked his eyes a couple of times before continuing, “They’re gone…”

Shiro’s brow furrowed as he murmured, “Gone?”

Pidge perched herself on the arm of the couch, propping one leg up, “They’re dead?”

“No,” Lance grimaced, blue eyes slowly trailing to meet Pidge’s gaze, “Actually… I don’t know. I hope not. They were taken.”

“Taken?”

Lance let himself slide down to sit on the floor as he continued to recount his tale, “There were seven people.”

* * *

_Blue eyes blinked away sleep as Lance sat up. He looked around groggily, finding he wasn’t where he had been when he had lost consciousness. The tent surrounding him was small and blue. He reached a hand up to card it through his hair only to pause at seeing the bandages wrapped around it. His eyes dropped to his other hand, seeing it was given the same treatment. Blood stained the pieces on the backs of his hands. Feeling slightly weirded out, he maneuvered gingerly onto his hands and knees, his body feeling as if it was made of lead, and crawled out of the tent._

_The sunlight nearly blinded him the minute he got the flap open. Squinting against the glare of the sun, he peered out to find a group of people eating around a small fire. Their voices lilted through the air merrily, warm laughter mixed in. One of the people noticed him and stood. Lance shut the flap and scooted further back into the tent, panic rising in his throat. The flap opened up not even a moment later, a boy poking his head in._

_“You’re awake!” he grinned, the smile seeming all too familiar._

_“Uh…” Lance squeezed himself against the back tent wall._

_“Oh, geez. Where are my manners? Sorry, I’m Matt,” the boy crawled in and sat cross legged. He held out his hand in greeting, smile still in place._

_Lance warily stretched out an arm and took his hand, shaking it once before dropping it, “Lance.”_

_“Cool. You feeling okay?”_

_“Yeah, so, you know, I’ll just be, uh, going now?” Lance inched his way around and towards the opening of the tent, “I gotta get back-“_

_“Slow down there,” Matt chuckled, laying a hand on Lance’s shoulder, “You should probably rest a little more. Wait here, and I’ll go get you some food.”_

_“I’m not hun-” Lance’s stomach interrupted him with a loud grumble, “-gry…”_

_Matt rose a brow, amusement clear on his face._

_“I might be a little hungry…” Lance sat back and watched the other crawl back out of the tent._

_Matt returned with a canteen full of water and a can, with a spoon sticking out of it, wrapped in a worn hand towel. Lance took the food first, sniffing it curiously before taking a bite of it. He nearly melted in delight. It’d been forever since he tasted something other than preserved fruit, jerky, or granola. Warm, cooked beans were a definite step up. He practically inhaled the rest of the can to Matt’s alarm, who felt the need to tell him to slow his roll. As Matt’s brow knit together in mild concern, Lance nearly choked as he finally recognized why he thought the guy looked so familiar. He swallowed quickly and sputtered, “You’re Matt Holt!”_

* * *

_“My brother was with them?!”_  Pidge exclaimed, launching forward to sit up straighter, her propped leg dropping to join the other, “And you failed to put this in your coded notes,  _why?”_

Lance’s shoulders inched up to his ears as he mumbled, “Well, there’s only so many words in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and your dad thought it’d be a fun surprise.”

 _“My dad?!_  Lance, I oughta _hit_  you!”

Hunk put an arm out to stop her from throwing herself across the small cabin to do just that.

“C’mon, Pidge!” Lance’s shoulders dropped as he thumped his head back against the wood his back was pressed against, “I’m telling you now.”

“After they were,  _supposedly,_  taken!”

“The robot things that took them had these weird, laser guns! I couldn’t stop them! I only have  _a bow!”_

“Laser guns? Robots?! Lance, have you lost your fucking mind?!”

“You believe me when I say that the Garrison was testing on aliens in a secret underground lab, but you won’t _believe that_   _deadly robots took a group of innocent people?!”_

“You’re telling me that robots took my dad and brother!”

“And your mom,” Lance added in as Pidge drew a breath to continue.

“If they’re dead, it’d be better to just tell me straight up that they’re zombie chow!” she stood up from her seat, her tiny body shaking with rage. She sneered at him and hissed through her teeth,  _“I need air.”_

With that, she marched out of the shack, slamming the door behind her. Lance stared helplessly at the door before turning his gaze to the rest of them, “You guys believe me, right?”

Keith crossed his arms, avoiding his gaze with a shrug. Hunk spoke timidly, “You have to admit… This is all getting a bit farfetched?”

Lance stared at them, expression falling with betrayal. Shiro glanced between them before clearing his throat. Blue eyes, already beginning to redden at the waterline, snapped to him. A nervousness thrummed through Shiro, but he swallowed it back and stood a little taller, squaring his shoulders. His voice came out surprisingly steady, “I’d like to hear more about what happened. Just because it sounds…unlikely doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t hear what happened.”

Shiro leveled his gaze with Lance, asking, “That is…if you’re okay with that?”

“Uh,” Lance blinked, his gaze flickering to the other two before returning to the stormy grey that had chosen to be so kind to him, “Yeah, I’ll… yeah. Well, I ended up staying with them. Safety in numbers, right? Since I’m pretty good with a bow, I took up scouting ahead for them to make sure the way was safe. They hadn’t gotten their hands on as much tech supplies as Pidge, but they had walkie talkies like we do. We were finishing up leaving the trail for you guys to follow.”

* * *

_The wind whipped around him as he scaled up the small cliff. The sun warmed his sweat slicked skin. Lance huffed as he finally heaved himself over the ledge and laid down to catch his breath. Finally, he sat up and stared down at where the group was making their way towards his direction. An elderly couple made the trek for them slow, but no one seemed impatient with them in the least. A smile tugged on Lance’s lips before he swept his eyes to seek out what lied ahead. Seeing a straggler, he slipped his bow from over his shoulder and readied it._

_He slipped an arrow from the side pocket of his bag and drew back on the string until it was taunt, aiming it at the zombie stumbling in circles down below. He took a deep breath before releasing his hold. The arrow whistled as darted through the air. An animalistic shriek screaming out let him know his aim had been true. The straggler staggered before dropping to the ground in a heap. Lance pumped his fist with a whoop. His free hand grabbed the radio communication device attached to the strap of his bag, fingers pressing the button on the side, “Lancey Lance has done it yet again. It’s all clear to go ah- Holy crow! What is that?!”_

_A dark shadow blocked the sun as it descended down upon the earth. A large, alien spacecraft sank down into view. The low hum that emitted from it caused small pebbles to hop about as it drew closer. His radio crackled alive. Matt._

_“I’ve never seen anything like this…”_

_“Get out of there!” Lance shouted into the walkie talkie before pulling out another quiver._

_The group began to run, but large bodies dropping down in a circle around them stopped them in their tracks. Lance took a shot, hitting the head of one of them. His arrow ricocheted with a small ting. The head turned to look towards him. Without the rest of its body turning as well. A shocked gasp slipped from Lance, eyes widening. Its body finally turned as it raised its gun. A scream rose from him as lasers were fired in his direction. He dropped to the ground, letting his bow fall from his grasp as he covered his head and tried to become one with the rock beneath him._

* * *

“When I felt safe enough to get back up, they were gone. The group. The ship. The robots.  _Everything,”_  Lance whispered, eyes on the floor. A shaky sigh left him before he lifted his eyes to stare at the others.

Keith quietly stood and left the shack, door closing softly behind him. Lance stood to go after him but faltered as Hunk, too, stood. His voice cracked, “Hunk?”

“I believe you, buddy,” Hunk stated quietly, “I’m going to talk to Pidge. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay…” Lance let the boy step close and hug him. Hunk squeezed him tight before slipping away and heading outside. Lance turned his oceanic eyes to Shiro, “What about you? Do you believe me?”

Shiro sat himself down on the edge of the couch’s mattress and picked up Pidge’s discarded goggles, his hands fiddling with it, “It’s a little hard to believe, but if the Garrison  _was_  testing on aliens, it wouldn’t be a surprise if aliens came here and grabbed some of us to do the same.”

“So… you do?” Lance rose a brow at him, an uncertain frown touching his lips.

Shiro gave him a small nod. The smile that lit up Lance’s face in response made his heart skip a few beats. He sucked in a small, calming breath, hoping beyond hope that he wasn’t visibly affected. Lance made his way over and sat down on the opposite side of the couch, toeing off his shoes. He glanced over at Shiro and murmured, “So, where’d they find you?”

“An old gas station,” Shiro answered, keeping his eyes on the goggles in his hands.

“Weird place to find the Garrison’s golden boy,” Lance smiled a bit.

Shiro’s head snapped up, and he twisted around to stare at Lance, surprise evident.

“What? You were a legend among us cadets. Is it really that surprising?” the Cuban boy let a nervous laugh breeze from his lungs.

“A legend, huh?” Shiro let loose a small laugh himself, “I assure you. I’m not a legend. A good pilot? Yes. But  _a legend?”_

“You were the greatest pilot of your generation,” Lance gaped, “That’s nothing to sneeze at!”

“I  _was,”_  Shiro lowered his gaze, “There’s not much of a use for pilots anymore.”

Lance bit his lower lip, brows knitting together as he thought for a moment. Then, he stood and walked to the dresser, opening the bag that sat there. He turned back towards him, holding up a couple sealed cans, “Wanna help with dinner?”

Shiro blinked at the sudden change of conversation but decided that he preferred it. He stood slowly, “Okay…”

He dropped Pidge’s goggles back onto the mattress and walked over to Lance. Taking a can, he looked it over, “What’s in these?”

“Green beans,” Lance grinned, “I’ve been saving them.”

A warm smile crossed Shiro’s face, “Oh, man. I haven’t had green beans in… I don’t know. I don’t even think I remember what they taste like.”

Lance stared at that smile for a moment before mentally shaking himself out of it.

“We’ll just have to remind you. Now, won’t we?” Lance winked at him before handing Shiro the other can he had been holding and grabbing two more out of his bag. He, then, made his way to the kitchenette, setting the cans on the counter, and pulling a small propane camping stove from a cabinet. He was completely unaware of the blush that crawled up Shiro’s face. Lance grabbed a can opener from his bag and gave it to the other before grabbing a small pot from a different cabinet and walking out of the shack. Shiro sighed out a long, deep breath as soon as the shack door shut. He really needed to get a hold on this sudden infatuation. He was sure it’d pass with time. With that thought in his head, he set about opening the cans.


	7. Chapter 7

Everyone ate dinner in silence that night. The tension was so thick in the air surrounding them; it could be cut with a knife. Shiro focused on enjoying the warm green beans Lance had provided everyone. Pidge moodily stabbed at hers, sitting next to him, with a fork as she grumbled inaudibly beneath her breath, amber eyes only lifting to glare across the way from where she sat. Lance avoided her gaze, keeping his eyes casted down at his can of food. Keith sat beside him, eating out of his own can contently. Hunk cleared his throat, “So, uh, today’s been pretty great…” **  
**

“If you don’t count the garbage a  _certain someone_  likes to spew out of their chew hole,” Pidge grumped.

Lance’s lips thinned as he held his tongue. Shiro sighed softly through his nose. Hunk shoved a forkful of beans into his mouth as he tried to think of something else to say. Keith beat him to it, “We accomplished something we’ve been working towards for months. That’s something we should be proud of.”

 _“Oh, what an accomplishment,”_  the sarcasm rolled too easily from her tongue. Pidge’s eyes locked on Lance as she sneered and thrust her can out to Hunk, “I’m not hungry.”

Hunk took the can timidly, chestnut eyes wide. Pidge stood only to pick up her army bag and stalk outside. As soon as the shack’s door slammed shut, a sigh breezed out of Lance along with a mumbled, “I’m sorry, guys…”

Hunk gave him a sympathetic pat on the back, “Just give her time, bud. She’ll come around.”

“I hope so…”

* * *

Shiro was awakened by a hand and a harsh whisper of his name. He squinted through the darkness, trying to make out the face hovering a foot away from his. Voice groggy, he murmured, “Keith?”

“Shiro, get up. I… I feel something weird,” Keith face appeared grim, his brows furrowed and lips in a thin line.

Shiro pushed himself up to sit, rubbing a hand down his face as he tried to wake himself up, “What kind of something?”

Keith visibly struggled to come up with some way to describe what he felt. His mouth opened and closed several times before he ground out with clenched teeth,  _“I don’t know,_  but it’s out there.”

“It’s out there?” Shiro’s own brows furrowed.

“Can’t you feel it? It’s…” an aggravated groan slipped from Keith then, his hands clenched and unclenched over his thighs as he tried to articulate, “I-It feels like… someone’s screaming for help, but…without sound?”

Keeping his voice low, Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder, “Keith, it’s probably nothing. If you want, I’ll go with you in the morning to check out the area, or we’ll get Pidge to have her drone do a check or something. For now, you should probably get some rest.”

“But I’m on watch duty.”

“I’ll take over.”

 _“No,_  Shiro. I can’t-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Shiro offered him a small smile as he removed his hand, “I’m already awake. It’s not a big deal. You go ahead and get some sleep.”

Not giving Keith any room to argue, he quietly got up and made his way to the shack’s open door. He kept his eyes forward until he heard the shuffling about of Keith trying to get comfortable on the blanket Shiro had been sleeping on previously. A soft sigh drifted from Keith’s direction. Shiro glanced over his shoulder, pleased to find the other seriously trying to drift off.

A serene silence blanketed the air, only interrupted by the occasional bug chittering or soft snore coming from his sleeping companions. Grey eyes lifted to stare up at the vast night sky that was littered with twinkling stars. His gaze traced different constellations one by one as he recognized them. After a while, a creak sounded behind him. Shiro turned, fully ready to scold Keith for getting back up, but the words stuck in his throat as his eyes found that it wasn’t Keith. Blue eyes met his own, the moonlight seeming to light them up similar to the sky above. He swallowed thickly, his voice a bit shakier than he intended, “Lance?”

“Hey,” he crept the rest of the way over to him and sat down, “Wasn’t Keith on watch duty tonight?”

“I switched with him,” Shiro supplied, turning his gaze back out towards the desert as he tried to regain his lost composure. From his position in the open doorway, the desert sands seemed to glow in the presence of the full moon, “He was tired.”

Lance hummed as he leaned back, placing his hands behind him to support him. He turned his eyes up to the sky and let out a small whistle, “Wow… It’s pretty nice out tonight.”

“Yeah… It never ceases to amaze me how clear the sky is,” Shiro turned his eyes up towards the stars above, “I like picking out the constellations. Takes my mind off of everything going on.”

“You know ‘em?”

Shiro nodded and pointed towards a few stars, “There… You can see Gemini, and Orion is right next to it along with Taurus.”

Lance sat up straighter and scooted closer to follow where his arm was aiming, “Oh, cool…”

“Perseus should be overhead judging by the position of those…”

“You’ve really got these memorized, huh?”

Shiro’s face flushed a bit as he dropped his arm, “What can I say? I just love space…”

“You know what I love?”

“What?”

“The ocean,” Lance smiled wistfully before peering out the corner of his eye over in Shiro’s direction, “You know, I’ve heard people say that the two are a lot alike. Space and the ocean.”

“Me, too,” Shiro murmured, “Enough so that you’re required to train underwater before going up.”

“Mmhmmm,” Lance’s gaze returned to the sky, a comfortable silence resting between the two.

Shiro wanted it to last, but all too soon, a yawn was fighting it’s way from Lance’s throat. He smiled and tilted his head towards where the others lay, “Go back to sleep, Lance. I have a feeling we’re going to have a long day tomorrow.”

With a tired nod, Lance stood and tiptoed his way back to his sleeping bag. Shiro watched him for a moment before turning away, his eyes scanning the landscape ahead for any sign of danger. As soon as his eyes trailed up to the moon, he could’ve sworn he heard Lance telling him goodnight, but as soon as he turned to question it, he found the other already fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this took so long to get out. I get in moods where I write a chapter and then feel the need to delete it all several times before I just throw something up.
> 
> Thank you all for your incredible patience, and hopefully, the next chapter will be easier to toss up.


	8. Chapter 8

Flashing lights caught Shiro’s attention out of his peripheral just as the sun began to rise upon the distant horizon. He stood slowly, joints popping as he stretched. He, then, approached Pidge’s device and pressed the small button on its side to turn it off before bending down to nudge Keith awake. He stepped back as Keith bolted up with his knife drawn. After a quick look around, Keith lowered the knife and turned his violet gaze upwards, “Sorry. Morning, Shiro.”

Shiro smiled, “Good morning. Feel better after getting some sleep?”

With a grunt, Keith kicked his way out of his sleeping bag, “Yeah. No. I don’t know. The…whatever it is has quieted down at least.”

“If it starts bothering you, tell one of us, okay?” Shiro’s brows pinched in mild concern, “Could be you getting sick.”

“I’m  _fine,”_  Keith rolled his eyes as he maneuvered to roll up his sleeping bag.

With a sigh, Shiro returned to waking up the rest of their small team. However, he saved Lance for last. He knelt down next to the sleeping boy and gently shook his shoulder, “Lance. It’s time to get up.”

A hand lifted and swatted at where Shiro’s hand had been before Lance rolled onto his side with a sleepy, content sigh. Shiro’s brow furrowed as a small frown touched his lips. He reached out and shook the other again,  _“Lance.”_

“Five more minutes, babe,” Lance mumbled, pulling his blanket more securely to his chest. Shiro’s face slowly heated up as his mind blanked. He didn’t stop his eyes from taking in the sunlight spilling across Lance from the window. His shirt was rucked up his back, exposing the dark flesh there. Shiro wondered if it was a soft as it looked. He jumped slightly as Hunk appeared on his other side and pinched the Cuban boy’s waist. Hunk snatched his hand back when Lance yelped. Lance sat up quickly only to pout at Hunk when he realized what happened, whining, “Huuu _uuuunk!”_

 _“Laaaaance,”_  Hunk mocked back with an easy smile, “Gotta get up. Can’t stay in one spot for too long. Plus, we need a crack at that well you mentioned in your notes. We’re out of water.”

“Okay. Okay. I’m up,” Lance huffed and moved to get up, pausing at seeing the red faced man still kneeling at his side, “Oh, good morning, Shiro.”

Shiro blinked, parroting the greeting before standing quickly. He turned away and went to help pack up the blankets littered around the shack. Blue eyes stared after him quizzically.

* * *

Shiro and the others followed the Cuban boy out to get water. Shiro and Hunk carried the bags with the bottles in them. It took around ten minutes for them to reach where the well supposedly was. Lance knelt down in the dirt and slid his hands over the sand to brush it away, revealing a wooden hatch that had been hidden. Opening it up, he reached in and grabbed a rope that was hooked just under the ledge. The rest of the team watched as he heaved up a bucket, fresh water filled to the brim. Lance threw a smile their way once it was safely beside him, “See, guys? There’s plenty more where this came from.”

“Awesome!” Hunk immediately sat beside the bucket to start refilling their water supply. Keith, helpfully, handed him empty bottles in exchange for filled ones. Shiro took the filled bottles from Keith and packed them safely away in Hunk’s and his packs. Pidge snatched one of the bottles and pulled out a field kit from her pack to test the quality of the water.

Lance frowned at this, “Pidge, seriously? I’ve been drinking this water for days. It’s safe.”

She snorted, continuing her test, “We’ll see about that.”

Blue eyes narrowed as Lance clenched his jaw. He grit through his teeth, “When you’re done, I need to talk to you.  _Alone.”_

Tawny eyes flickered to him, “Okay.”

The tension in Lance’s jaw eased only a little at her answer. He dropped his gaze back to the well, pushing the bucket back down into it when it was empty and drawing it back up for Hunk. The cycle repeated until all the bottles were filled. By the time they were done, Pidge had her proof that the water was safe for them to consume. Shiro and Hunk zipped up their backpacks and shouldered them. Keith, Shiro, and Hunk waved before trekking their way back to the shack.

Lance and she stayed where they were. The two waited in silence until the trio was a good distance away. Lance shut the well’s hatch before turning his eyes back towards her, “We need to talk.”

“Yeah, we do,” Pidge crossed her arms haughtily, “You lied to them about where you led those zombies and how you got into that “lab”. If there even is a lab! I’ve been all over that building. I’ve been through the vents.  _All of them.”_

Lance averted his gaze, his breath leaving him as well as the rest of the tension in his body in a rush, “I’m sorry…”

“I _knew_  it,” she spat, brows creasing angrily. Lance flinched at her tone, but she continued, “Did you fabricate the whole thing?!”

Lance met her gaze,  _“No!_  I didn’t lie about your family or the robot things or even the lab.”

“What about your tracker?”

He swallowed, mouth going dry as he rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants, “It’s in my bag.”

“So, that  _was you on the cameras!”_

Another nod to confirm what she was saying.

 _“Damn it, Lance! We’re worried sick for months, and when we find you, you **lie**  to us?!”_ Pidge stood just to stamp her foot.

“I’m  _sorry,_  okay?” Lance stood as well, “Look, I’ll come clean now but not to them.”

“Why?”

Lance’s mouth twisted in frustration before he opened it, “‘Cause… it’s because of  _you_  that I went missing at the Garrison. I’m trying to protect you!”

Pidge’s stomach dropped as her eyes widened, “Oh, my god. You _tested_  it. It… Did it…?”

“It worked,” Lance confirmed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the thanks to my beta, @spicygenou (on here and tumblr), for looking over this chapter for me! She's the best! <3

The group trekked along, the dry, cracked dirt firm beneath their feet. Shiro’s eyes stayed forward as they walked while Lance was farther up ahead, scouting for them. He watched as Lance drew his bow back, quiver set. The arrow whistled as it was let loose. A choked, garbled cry sounded not even a second later.

“Great job, Lance!” Pidge hollered. Lance waved towards the group with a grin before hooking the bow over his shoulder and running off to retrieve the arrow.

“I’m guessing this means that the talk went okay?” Shiro turned his attention to her.

She shrugged, “It’s Lance. I can’t stay mad at him.”

“Speaking of Lance, what  _did_  the two of you talk about?” Hunk asked from her other side. Shiro glanced over his shoulder to see Keith was trailing behind to keep an eye out for anything that might sneak up on the group. He considered hanging back to keep him company.

Pidge adjusted her goggles on her face before answering, “Personal things. Like before I joined you and Lance kind of things.”

That recaptured Shiro’s attention, keeping him in pace with the two, “You weren’t originally traveling together?”

“Nope,” she popped the ‘p,’ “When everything went to hell at the Garrison, I got out with my mom.”

“Oh… D-did she-?”

“Not according to Lance. I had gotten separated from her because of a horde a couple of months after the outbreak. Didn’t have the drone yet, so they weren’t as easy to avoid. Haven’t seen her since we split.”

“Oh…”

The three of them went quiet. The only sounds were their collective breathing and the dusty scraping of their footsteps. It was Pidge who ended up breaking the silence after a few minutes, her voice soft, “After a while, I guess I started to believe that they were all dead…”

Hunk laid a hand against her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze, “Hey, they’re still out there. Lance wouldn’t lie to us. Maybe exaggerate a little. But lie? Nah. We’ll find them together, okay?”

A soft smile graced her lips, “Thanks, Hunk.”

Shiro didn’t miss the way her eyes dropped their gaze, “Are you okay, Pidge?”

Tawny eyes snapped up to look at him. Her smile faded immediately as her lips formed a thin line, “Fine.”

He studied her for a moment longer before deciding to let it go. He sighed, “If you’re sure… You can always talk with us if something’s bothering you.”

She patted his arm in acknowledgement before picking up her speed, looking intent on catching up to where Lance currently was. Shiro watched her for a moment before his pace slowed until he stood beside Keith. Keith glanced to him questioningly with a raised brow.

“When did they find you?” Shiro asked.

_“They_  didn’t find me. I found _them,”_  Keith answered, “It was a while back. Maybe two or three months before we lost Lance? I’m not really sure.”

“Sounds about right,” Hunk hung back to walk beside Keith as well, “Only one who’d really know for sure is Lance. His phone still works. Kind of.”

“He has a phone?” Shiro’s eyes snapped towards the front of their group where Lance was gesturing about as he talked to Pidge.

“No signal, obviously, since the cell towers were knocked out, but it has a calendar app,” Hunk shrugged.

Shiro deflated, “Right… Of course, the cell towers were knocked out.”

“Yeah, sorry, buddy,” Hunk sighed, “Those were out after about a month. We haven’t had contact with anyone since.”

“You called someone?” Keith tilted his head as he looked to Hunk.

“Well, yeah. Duh. Why wouldn’t we? Lance called his family back in Cuba, and I called my parents.”

“How’d that go?” Shiro asked, though he hesitated to.

“Not…too bad. Our folks mostly just fussed over us. Last I heard, my parents were going to hike their way down here, and Lance’s were going to try to secure a shelter to house survivors. They wanted us to come to them whenever we found a way.”

Hunk’s voice softened, “My parents should’ve made it here by now… For all I know, they might’ve died on the way.”

Keith placed a hand on Hunk’s shoulder, all of them slowing to a stop, “Hunk…”

“They’re still out there,” Shiro spoke up, voice firm, “Don’t think for a second they aren’t still alive and searching for you.”

Hunk blinked before a more determined grin settled on his face, “Yeah… They’re still out there.  _Yeah!”_

A laugh bubbled up from him before he wrapped his arms around Keith and lifted him up into a bear hug, “Thanks, guys!”

Keith wheezed, “You’re welcome. Now,  _please,_  put me down.”

Hunk released him but grabbed his arm as he hurried on ahead towards Lance and Pidge.  Shiro watched them with a smile before his legs moved to catch up with the group.

* * *

Quiet snipping sounded in the dark of the night. Lance carefully cut the hair along the left side of Pidge’s head, shortening the long locks to the tips of her ears. His blue eyes stayed focused on his task. Occasionally, he’d bite or purse his lips in his concentration. The light from the small fire they started upon setting up camp splayed over his torso, making the expanse of bared skin appear warm and inviting.

Shiro drank it in from where he was perched on his blankets. He was supposed to be resting. It was Lance’s night to stand watch, but Shiro was restless. He wasn’t sure he could erase the memory of seeing Lance remove his shirt earlier from his brain. The way the lean muscle had shifted beneath the bronzed skin of Lance’s back was likely to haunt his dreams. He swallowed dryly, unable to take his eyes off the entrancing person before him.

Lance was something beautiful in a wasteland filled with death. His eyes were glasses of fresh water on a hot day. Even the smallest touch from him shook Shiro to the core with the want to return that touch. It was dangerous to be so infatuated out here. Shiro knew he shouldn’t feel this way, especially not so soon, but he did. He did, yet he couldn’t help but think of Lance as a lone flower blooming in the desert. One he should leave alone so that more could hopefully grow.

Snapping fingers pulled him out of his thoughts. Shiro looked up with an unintelligible, “Huh?”

Lance raised a brow, an amused smile ghosting over his lips, “I asked if you had some clippers.”

Shiro nodded dumbly as he reached an arm back towards his bag blindly, unwilling to take his eyes off of Lance just yet. After missing a few times, he finally managed to lay a hand on the backpack and drag it over to himself. A soft laugh from Lance had Shiro finally dropping his gaze, his face feeling warmer than usual, as he unzipped the bag and dug around for the battery-powered clippers. As soon as he found them, he placed it into Lance’s expecting hand.

“Knew you’d have some. No one can keep an undercut that fresh out here without a pair,” Lance grinned brightly, “Thanks, Shiro. I’ll have ‘em back to ya in a minute.”

“No problem,” Shiro managed to say despite his dry throat.

Lance sashayed back to Pidge’s side, clicking on the clippers before running it over the sections of hair he had just cut. Shiro set his bag back to its spot beside his blankets and finally made himself lay down. He forced his eyes closed and let the buzzing sound of Pidge getting the side of her head shaved lull him to sleep.

Pidge noticed Shiro fall asleep, glad that he did. She planned on staying quiet until she was absolutely sure that everyone was asleep. Hunk went to sleep next after adding a bit more tinder to the fire. Keith was the hardest to wait for. He laid out on his sleeping bag, but his eyes stayed open, fixated on the stars littering the sky above. He was out soon enough though. After a few glances to confirm that Keith had nodded off, she finally opened her mouth but kept her voice low, “Thank you for doing this, Lance.”

“No problemo, Pidgeon,” Lance dusted a hand over her newly finished side shave, turning the electronic in his hand off. He sauntered his way over to Shiro’s sleeping form and dropped the clippers into the open bag there.

Pidge swiveled herself around to watch him, “Mind if I stay up with you tonight?”

Lance turned towards her with a raised brow, “Wanting to work on a new gadget?”

“Actually,” Pidge tugged on a strand of her hair nervously as her eyes drifted towards the sky above, “I was hoping to look over an older one.”

“The drone?”

She dropped gaze to fix him with an unimpressed stare, “No, Lance.  _The device?_  You know?”

Lance’s eyes widened in understanding,  _“Oh…”_

He cast a brief, nervous glance over Shiro’s sleeping form before making his way quietly towards his own bag. Pidge leaned forward, her hands pressed to her lap, as she excitedly watched him pull out a bracelet she hadn’t seen in months from his backpack. He walked over, and she raised her hands for him to drop it into. As soon as the cool metal was in her hands, she immediately set to work looking it over.

At first glance, it was a regular, silver bangle, but in fact, it was the very device that had saved Lance’s life back at the garrison. Lance felt a little sick just looking at it, but he chose not to comment on it. He sat down near her in case she had questions and turned his eyes to the surrounding landscape to keep an eye out for any dangers that could come crawling towards them.

“I still can’t believe it worked,” she whispered after a while of picking it apart and putting it back together, “Guess that liquid stuff I grabbed from the garrison’s storage was powerful enough to be used as an energy source. Still don’t know what they were doing with it though…or where they even found it…”

“Who knows? Whatever it is, it’s dangerous,” Lance grumped as he crossed his arms.

“It saved you, didn’t it?”

“I guess…but what now? It’s not like you can make more of that stuff, and we don’t know how long it’ll last.”

“True,” Pidge frowned, eyes staring down at the unassuming trinket, “I’d need access to a functioning lab to properly test it.” She raised her gaze to fix on him, “How’d it feel?”

He grimaced, “Awful.”

“C’mon, Lance. I need more to go off of than that!”

After a heavy sigh, he relented, “Like I was being stretched into five hundred different directions before just…snapping back together. I felt like… No, I  _could_  see the atoms making up my skin and taste colors and sound, but the only sound was screaming from a million different voices! It… It was scary, Pidge. I didn’t know who or where I was when I woke up. It felt like how I imagine someone losing their mind might feel.”

She scooted closer to him and leaned against his side, her eyes falling back to the bangle, “That’s when my brother found you, right?”

“Yeah,” Lance swallowed thickly before murmuring, “I really don’t want to talk about this anymore…”

“That’s okay. You said all that I needed to hear. Thank you. I’ll leave you alone now,” Pidge moved away from him, standing to shuffle over to her own pack.

Lance sighed through his nose, missing the warmth of having someone close but unwilling to suffer through any more questions that might pour from her mouth despite her best intentions. Hours later, when he heard her start to snore, he got up and picked up her things, dumping them back into her pack before laying her blanket over her gently.

“Night, Pidgeon…”


End file.
